Courtesy: Schmidt's Pastry Cottage
SALT LAKE CITY – Schmidt’s Pastry Cottage is one of several Salt Lake County restaurants ready to let customers eat inside.
But co-owner Brett Borg says indoor dining won’t be at the expense of customer safety.
They have been spacing tables at their Salt Lake City, South Jordan, and Taylorsville locations eight feet apart, sometimes even taking them outside so customers can continue to practice social distancing.
The restaurant already has lots of hand sanitizer, while signs have gone up asking people who have symptoms of COVID-19 not to come inside.
“We’re doing this very cautiously. I feel very comfortable with our employees that we will handle the situation correctly. If it gets too crowded in here…if we see that there’s a problem, we will address it,” Borg says.
Borg says they will also pull back if they feel it is not safe for customers or staff.
He has heard from people eager to come back inside, but he understands if someone might be hesitant.
“We invite those who are ready to come back and enjoy it. For those who aren’t, I totally understand. The main thing is to keep safe. We’ll do what we can on our end to be safe, and we encourage everyone else to do the same,” Borg says.
For those who are still craving that eclair, curbside pickup will continue to be available.
Schmidt’s Pastry Cottage has been open during the COVID-19 pandemic because they also operate as a bakery, but the decision to allow indoor dining again was not easy. They had to balance everyone’s safety with the need to generate enough revenue to keep people employed.
“When we have an opportunity to try to get back to normalcy and provide more stable jobs for everyone, I’m going to do that. But I’m more cautious. [Even in] my personal life, I’m more cautious. So, hopefully, people will see that coming here that we’re very cautious with the way we run things,” Borg said.
Utah is lifting some COVID-19 restrictions on May 1st as the rate of hospitalizations and infections goes down.
Salt Lake County announces plan for gradual reopening of businesses Friday